Lexington, Ky. – Three entries will vie for the USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship title this week at Live Oak International in Ocala, Fla. Held March 19-23, the drivers will perform in the dressage, marathon, and cones phases and hope to come out on top by the competition’s end.
Chester Weber (Ocala, Fla.) aims for his eleventh USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship title. After winning his tenth National title just five months ago at the Kentucky Classic CDE, Weber has remained in top form, winning the Advanced Horse Team division at the Kingdom of the Sun CDE. He began the competition with a personal-best dressage score of 30.89 and maintained his lead throughout the marathon and cones phases to finish on a score of 124.81.
Misdee Wrigley-Miller (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) aided the U.S. team to a fourth-place finish at the 2013 FEI World Driving Championships for Pairs last September in Topolcianky, Slovakia, but this year she has changed her focus to the Four-in-Hand division. She is off to a great start in 2014, winning at Sunshine State CDE and coming in third in the Kingdom of the Sun CDE in the Advanced Horse Team divisions.
Casey Zubek (Manhattan, Ill.) rounds out the championship field in Ocala. In September 2013, he and his team won the Advanced Horse Team division at the Hermitage Classic CDE. Zubek kicked off 2014 with a second-place finish at the Kingdom of the Sun CDE in the Advanced Horse Team division.
Competition begins Thursday at 9:00am ET with dressage, while the marathon phase kicks off on Saturday at 9:00am ET. The championship title will be decided Sunday following the cones phase beginning at 9:00am ET.
Anyone interested can watch the marathon and cones phases live on the USEF Network presented by SmartPak. USEFNetwork.com will be live streaming the driving marathon and cones phases on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9:00am ET and 8:00am ET respectively. Live Oak International also hosts a CSI 2* jumping competition and USEF Network coverage will include jumper classes on Saturday at 2:00pm ET and Sunday at 2:30pm ET.
By Kathleen Landwehr
For more information about Live Oak International, visit http://liveoakinternational.com/.
Follow the U.S. Driving Team here.